Heavy hitter a challenge for Geale

NEW YORK - Gennady Golovkin is known in the boxing world as "Triple G", but if he was looking for another ring name "The Smiling Assassin" would suit the heavy hitter from Kazakhstan.

Golovkin isn't a trash talker.

He is smart, articulate, respectful and outside the ring seems to wear a permanent smile.

When Golovkin enters New York's Madison Square Garden today (midday Sunday AEST) to fight Australia's Daniel Geale he will shed the smile and transform into a pit bull.

"Daniel throws a lot more punches than me, but I punch harder than him," a confident, relaxed Golovkin told AAP.

The undefeated Kazakh has knocked out 26 of his 29 victims on his way to becoming the WBA and IBO middleweight champion, is the most feared fighter in the sport and is a short-priced favourite to add Geale to his list of victims.

Gennady Golovkin celebrates another knockout win. The undefeated Kazakh has knocked out 26 of his 29 victims on his way to becoming the WBA and IBO middleweight champion. Picture: GETTY IMAGES.

Golovkin's 89.65 per cent knockout percentage is the highest of any current boxing champion and ranks him third in the sport's history.

"He is probably the easiest and most talented fighter I have ever worked with," Golovkin's trainer for the past three years, Abel Sanchez, said.

"Because of his upbringing and culture, he listens to his teacher."

It's a surprise Golovkin is so level- headed as his life was rocked at a young age.

Born in the Kazakh coal mining city of Karaganda, Golovkin's father was a Russian miner and his mother a chemical laboratory technician.

His two older brothers, Vadim and Sergey, had joined the Russian army, and in the space of a few years were killed while on duty.

Adding to the trauma, his family never received an explanation from the army on how or why they died.

It was Sergey and Vadim who encouraged Golovkin to box, starting when he was in kindergarten and his older brothers would challenge him to fight other kids.

As Golovkin, whose middle name is Gennadyevich, got older they would take him around town and arrange fights.

To honour his brothers, Golovkin embarked on a path of destruction through boxing's amateur ranks.

He became one of the most dominant amateur middleweights in the early 2000s, winning a silver medal at the Athens Olympics and gold at 2002 world championships, the 2002 Asian Games and 2004 Asian Championships.

He has never been knocked out, or even knocked down, in more than 375 amateur and professional fights.

Golovkin ended up with the WBA belt when Geale, who won it in 2012 by shocking Felix Sturm in Germany, relinquished it four months later to successfully take on Australian foe Anthony Mundine for their big-money grudge match.

It will be a classic mix of styles when Golovkin and Geale meet, and the Kazakh's camp does not expect another knockout victory.

"Geale is non-stop," Sanchez, summing up the Tasmanian, said.

"He throws punches for 12 rounds and is in great condition.

"He doesn't punch that hard, but you don't have to punch hard when you're landing combinations.

"You can knock somebody down that way too.

"That's what caused me restless nights at the beginning of camp, just trying to get around the fact we may have to go 12 rounds."